arXiv subjects

Gregory L. Eyink

Publications and source records attributed to Gregory L. Eyink.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Beyond chaos: fluctuations, anomalies and spontaneous stochasticity in fluid turbulence

In this perspective, we consider the development of statistical hydrodynamics, focusing on the way in which the intrinsic stochasticity of turbulent phenomena was identified and is being explored. A major purpose of our discussion is to bring out the role of anomalies in turbulent phenomena, in ways that are not usually done, and to emphasize how the description of turbulent phenomena requires delicate considerations of asymptotic limits. The scope of our narrative includes selected historical aspects that are not usually emphasized, primarily due to G.I. Taylor, as well as discussions of certain aspects of the laminar-turbulent transition, the behaviour of turbulent drag at intermediate Reynolds numbers, and the statistics of fully-developed turbulence that exhibit spontaneous stochasticity.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2025

Non-Gaussian statistics of concentration fluctuations in free liquid diffusion

We show that the three-point skewness of concentration fluctuations is non-vanishing in free liquid diffusion, even in the limit of vanishingly small mean concentration gradients. We exploit a high-Schmidt reduction of nonlinear Landau-Lifshitz hydrodynamics for a binary fluid, both analytically and by a massively parallel Lagrangian Monte Carlo simulation. Non-Gaussian statistics result from nonlinear coupling of concentration fluctuations to thermal velocity fluctuations, analogous to the turbulent advection of a passive scalar. Concentration fluctuations obey no central limit theorem, counter to the predictions of macroscopic fluctuation theory for generic diffusive systems.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2025

Emergence of long-range non-equilibrium correlations in free liquid diffusion

It is experimentally well-established that non-equilibrium long-range correlations of concentration fluctuations appear in free diffusion of a solute in a solvent, but it remains unknown how such correlations are established dynamically. We address this problem in a model of Donev, Fai \& Vanden-Eijnden (DFV), obtained from the high-Schmidt limit of the Landau-Lifschitz fluctuating hydrodynamic equations for a binary mixture. We consider an initial planar interface of the mean concentration field in an infinite space domain, idealizing prior experiments. Using methods borrowed from turbulence theory, we show both analytically and numerically that a quasi-steady regime with self-similar time decay of concentration correlations appears at long time. In addition to the expected ``giant concentration fluctuations'' with correlations $\propto r$ for $r\lesssim L(t)=(Dt)^{1/2},$ with diffusivity $D,$ a new regime with spatial decay $\propto 1/r$ appears for $r\gtrsim L(t).$ The quasi-steady regime arises from an initial stage of transient growth $\propto t,$ confirming the prediction of DFV for $r\gtrsim L(t)$ and discovering an analogous result for $r\lesssim L(t).$ Our results give new insight into the emergence of non-equilibrium long-range correlations and provide novel predictions that may be investigated experimentally.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2025

Weak-Strong Uniqueness and Extreme Wall Events at High Reynolds Number

Singular or weak solutions of the incompressible Euler equations have been hypothesized to account for anomalous dissipation at very high Reynolds numbers and, in particular, to explain the d'Alembert paradox of non-vanishing drag. A possible objection to this explanation is the mathematical property called ``weak-strong uniqueness'', which requires that any admissable weak solution of the Euler equations must coincide with the smooth Euler solution for the same initial data. As an application of the Josephson-Anderson relation, we sketch a proof of conditional weak-strong uniqueness for the potential Euler solution of d'Alembert within the class of strong inviscid limits. We suggest that the mild conditions required for weak-strong uniqueness are, in fact, physically violated by violent eruption of very thin boundary layers. We discuss observational signatures of these extreme events and explain how the small length-scales involved could threaten the validity of a hydrodynamic description.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2025

Whither the Zeroth Law of Turbulence?

Experimental and numerical studies of incompressible turbulence suggest that the mean dissipation rate of kinetic energy remains constant as the Reynolds number tends to infinity (or the non-dimensional viscosity tends to zero). This anomalous behavior is central to many theories of high-Reynolds-number turbulence and for this reason has been termed the "zeroth law". Here we report a sequence of direct numerical simulations of incompressible Navier-Stokes in a box with periodic boundary conditions, which indicate that the anomaly vanishes at a rate that agrees with the scaling of third-moment of absolute velocity increments. Our results suggest that turbulence without boundaries may not develop strong enough singularities to sustain the zeroth law.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2025

Weak-Strong Uniqueness and the d'Alembert Paradox

We prove conditional weak-strong uniqueness of the potential Euler solution for external flow around a smooth body in three space dimensions, within the class of viscosity weak solutions with the same initial data. Our sufficient condition is the vanishing of the streamwise component of the skin friction in the inviscid limit, somewhat weaker than the condition of Bardos-Titi in bounded domains. Because global-in-time existence of the smooth potential solution leads back to the d'Alembert paradox, we argue that weak-strong uniqueness is not a valid criterion for "relevant" notions of generalized Euler solution and that our condition is likely to be violated in the inviscid limit. We prove also that the Drivas-Nguyen condition on uniform continuity at the wall of the normal velocity component implies weak-strong uniqueness within the general class of admissible weak Euler solutions in bounded domains.

math.AP↗

arXiv2025

The origin of vorticity in viscous incompressible flows

In inviscid, incompressible flows, the evolution of vorticity is exactly equivalent to that of an infinitesimal material line-element, and hence vorticity can be traced forward or backward in time in a Lagrangian fashion. This elegant and powerful description is not possible in viscous flows due to the action of diffusion. Instead, a stochastic Lagrangian interpretation is required and was recently introduced, where the origin of vorticity at a point is traced back in time as an expectation over the contribution from stochastic trajectories. We herein introduce for the first time an Eulerian, adjoint-based approach to quantify the back-in-time origin of vorticity in viscous, incompressible flows. The adjoint variable encodes the advection, tilting and stretching of the earlier-in-time vorticity that ultimately leads to the target value. Precisely, the adjoint vorticity is the volume-density of the mean Lagrangian deformation of the earlier vorticity. The formulation can also account for the injection of vorticity into the domain at solid boundaries. We demonstrate the mathematical equivalence of the adjoint approach and the stochastic Lagrangian approach. We then provide an example from turbulent channel flow, where we analyze the origin of high-stress events and relate them to Lighthill's mechanism of stretching of near-wall vorticity.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2024

Space-Time Statistical Solutions of the Incompressible Euler Equations and Landau-Lifshitz Fluctuating Hydrodynamics

We study rigorously the infinite Reynolds limit of the solutions of the Landau-Lifschitz equations of fluctuating hydrodynamics for an incompressible fluid on a $d$-dimensional torus for $d\geq 2.$ These equations, which model the effects of thermal fluctuations in fluids, are given a standard physical interpretation as a low-wavenumber ``effective field theory'', rather than as stochastic partial differential equations. We study in particular solutions which enjoy some a priori Besov regularity in space, as expected for initial data chosen from a driven, turbulent steady-state ensemble. The empirical basis for this regularity hypothesis, uniform in Reynolds number, is carefully discussed, including evidence from numerical simulations of turbulent flows that incorporate thermal fluctuations. Considering the initial-value problem for the Landau-Lifschitz equations, our main result is that the infinite Reynolds number limit is a space-time statistical solution of the incompressible Euler equations in the sense of Vishik \& Fursikov. Such solutions are described by a probability measure on space-time velocity fields whose realizations are weak or distributional solutions of the incompressible Euler equations, each with the same prescribed initial data. In conjunction with recent numerical evidence that these probability measures are non-trivial, our theorem shows that the mathematical non-uniqueness of the solutions of the Cauchy problem for Euler, as revealed by convex integration studies, may be physically realized. In support of the theory of spontaneous stochasticity, any persistent randomness in the infinite-Reynolds limit is associated to a nontrivial probability distribution over non-unique solutions of the ideal Euler equations.

math-ph↗

arXiv2024

Inertial Momentum Dissipation for Viscosity Solutions of Euler Equations: External Flow Around a Smooth Body

We study the local balance of momentum for weak solutions of incompressible Euler equations obtained from the zero-viscosity limit in the presence of solid boundaries, taking as an example flow around a finite, smooth body. We show that both viscous skin friction and wall pressure exist in the inviscid limit as distributions on the body surface. We define a nonlinear spatial flux of momentum toward the wall for the Euler solution, and show that wall friction and pressure are obtained from this momentum flux in the limit of vanishing distance to the wall, for the wall-parallel and wall-normal components, respectively. We show furthermore that the skin friction describing anomalous momentum transfer to the wall will vanish if velocity and pressure are bounded in a neighborhood of the wall and if also the essential supremum of wall-normal velocity within a small distance of the wall vanishes with this distance (a precise form of the vanishing wall-normal velocity condition). In the latter case, all of the limiting drag arises from pressure forces acting on the body and the pressure at the body surface can be obtained as the limit approaching the wall of the interior pressure for the Euler solution. As one application of this result, we show that Lighthill's theory of vorticity generation at the wall is valid for the Euler solutions obtained in the inviscid limit. Further, in a companion work, we show that the Josephson-Anderson relation for the drag, recently derived for strong Navier-Stokes solutions, is valid for weak Euler solutions obtained in their inviscid limit.

math-ph↗

arXiv2024

Spontaneous stochasticity amplifies even thermal noise to the largest scales of turbulence in a few eddy turnover times

How predictable are turbulent flows? Here we use theoretical estimates and shell model simulations to argue that Eulerian spontaneous stochasticity, a manifestation of the non-uniqueness of the solutions to the Euler equation that is conjectured to occur in Navier-Stokes turbulence at high Reynolds numbers, leads to universal statistics at finite times, not just at infinite time as for standard chaos. These universal statistics are predictable, even though individual flow realizations are not. Any small-scale noise vanishing slowly enough with increasing Reynolds number can trigger spontaneous stochasticity and here we show that thermal noise alone, in the absence of any larger disturbances, would suffice. If confirmed for Navier-Stokes turbulence, our findings would imply that intrinsic stochasticity of turbulent fluid motions at all scales can be triggered even by unavoidable molecular noise, with implications for modeling in engineering, climate, astrophysics and cosmology.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2022

Path large deviations for the kinetic theory of weak turbulence

We consider a generic Hamiltonian system of nonlinear interacting waves with 3-wave interactions. In the kinetic regime of wave turbulence, which assumes weak nonlinearity and large system size, the relevant observable associated with the wave amplitude is the empirical spectral density that appears as the natural precursor of the spectral density, or spectrum, for finite system size. Following classical derivations of the Peierls equation for the moment generating function of the wave amplitudes in the kinetic regime, we propose a large deviation estimate for the dynamics of the empirical spectral density, where the number of admissible wavenumbers, which is proportional to the volume of the system, appears as the natural large deviation parameter. The large deviation stochastic Hamiltonian that quantifies the minus of the log probability of a trajectory is computed within the kinetic regime which assumes the Random Phase approximation for weak nonlinearity. We compare this Hamiltonian with the one for a system of modes interacting in a mean-field way with the empirical spectrum. Its relationship with the Random Phase and Amplitude approximation is discussed. Moreover, for the specific case when no forces and dissipation are present, a few fundamental properties of the large deviation dynamics are investigated. We show that the latter conserves total energy and momentum, as expected for a 3-wave interacting systems. In addition, we compute the equilibrium quasipotential and check that global detailed balance is satisfied at the large deviation level. Finally, we discuss briefly some physical applications of the theory.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2022

Onsager Theory of Turbulence, the Josephson-Anderson Relation, and the D'Alembert Paradox

The Josephson-Anderson relation, valid for the incompressible Navier-Stokes solutions which describe flow around a solid body, instantaneously equates the power dissipated by drag to the flux of vorticity across the flow lines of the potential Euler solution considered by d'Alembert. Its derivation involves a decomposition of the velocity field into this background potential-flow field and a solenoidal field corresponding to the rotational wake behind the body, with the flux term describing transfer from the interaction energy between the two fields and into kinetic energy of the rotational flow. We establish the validity of the Josephson-Anderson relation for the weak solutions of the Euler equations obtained in the zero-viscosity limit, with one transfer term due to inviscid vorticity flux and the other due to a viscous skin-friction anomaly. Furthermore, we establish weak forms of the local balance equations for both interaction and rotational energies. We define nonlinear spatial fluxes of these energies and show that the asymptotic flux of interaction energy to the wall equals the anomalous skin-friction term in the Josephson-Anderson relation. However, when the Euler solution satisfies suitably the no-flow-through condition at the wall, then the anomalous term vanishes. In this case, we can show also that the asymptotic flux of rotational energy to the wall must vanish and we obtain in the rotational wake the Onsager-Duchon-Robert relation between viscous dissipation anomaly and inertial dissipation due to scale-cascade. In this way we establish a precise connection between the Josephson-Anderson relation and the Onsager theory of turbulence, and we provide a novel resolution of the d'Alembert paradox.

math-ph↗

arXiv2022

Origin of Enhanced Skin Friction at the Onset of Boundary-Layer Transition

Boundary-layer transition is accompanied by a significant increase in skin friction whose origin is rigorously explained using the stochastic Lagrangian formulation of the Navier-Stokes equations. This formulation permits the exact analysis of vorticity dynamics in individual realizations of a viscous incompressible fluid flow. The Lagrangian reconstruction formula for vorticity is here extended for the first time to Neumann boundary conditions (Lighthill source). We can thus express the wall vorticity, and therefore the wall stress, as the expectation of a stochastic Cauchy invariant in backward time, with contributions from (a) wall-vorticity flux (Lighthill source) and (b) interior vorticity that has been evolved by nonlinear advection, viscous diffusion, vortex stretching and tilting. We consider the origin of stress maxima in the transitional region, examining a sufficient number of events to represent the increased skin friction. The stochastic Cauchy analysis is applied to each event to trace the origin of the wall vorticity. We find that the Lighthill source, vortex tilting, diffusion and advection of outer vorticity make minor contributions. They are less important than spanwise stretching of near-wall spanwise vorticity, which is the dominant source of skin-friction increase during laminar-to-turbulent transition. Our analysis should assist more generally in understanding drag generation and reduction strategies and flow separation in terms of near-wall vorticity dynamics.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2021

Thermal noise competes with turbulent fluctuations below millimeter scales

Turbulent flows frequently accompany physical, chemical and biological processes, such as mixing, two-phase flow, combustion and even foraging by bacteria and plankton larvae, all of which are in principle subject to thermal fluctuations already on scales of several microns. Nevertheless the large separation between the millimeter scale at which turbulent fluctuations begin to be strongly damped and the mean free path of the fluid has been generally assumed to imply that thermal fluctuations are irrelevant to the turbulent dissipation range. Here we use statistical mechanical estimates to show that thermal fluctuations are not negligible compared to turbulent eddies in the dissipation range. Simulation of the Sabra shell model shows that intermittent bursts of turbulence lead to a fluctuating length scale below which thermal fluctuations are important: over three decades of length, from sub-millimeter scales down to the mean free path, thermal fluctuations coexist with hydrodynamics. Our results imply that thermal fluctuations cannot be neglected when modeling turbulent phenomena in the far dissipation range.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2021

The Josephson-Anderson Relation and the Classical D'Alembert Paradox

Generalizing prior work of P. W. Anderson and E. R. Huggins, we show that a "detailed Josephson-Anderson relation" holds for drag on a finite body held at rest in a classical incompressible fluid flowing with velocity ${\bf V}.$ The relation asserts an exact equality between the instantaneous power consumption by the drag, $-{\bf F}\cdot{\bf V},$ and the vorticity flux across the potential mass current, $-(1/2)\int dJ\int ε_{ijk}Σ_{ij}\,d\ell_k.$ Here $Σ_{ij}$ is the flux in the $i$th coordinate direction of the conserved $j$th component of vorticity and the line-integrals over $\ell$ are taken along streamlines of the potential flow solution ${\bf u}_ϕ=\nablaϕ$ of the ideal Euler equation, carrying mass flux $dJ=ρ\,{\bf u}_ϕ\cdot d{\bf A}.$ The results generalize the theories of M. J. Lighthill for flow past a body and, in particular, the steady-state relation $(1/2)ε_{ijk}\langleΣ_{jk}\rangle =\partial_i\langle h\rangle,$ where $h=p+(1/2)|{\bf u}|^2$ is the generalized enthalpy or total pressure, extends Lighthill's theory of vorticity generation at solid walls into the interior of the flow. We use these results to explain drag on the body in terms of vortex dynamics, unifying the theories for classical fluids and for quantum superfluids. The results offer a new solution to the "D'Alembert paradox" at infinite Reynolds numbers and imply the necessary conditions for turbulent drag reduction.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2020

A Renormalization Group Approach to Spontaneous Stochasticity

We develop a theoretical approach to ``spontaneous stochasticity'' in classical dynamical systems that are nearly singular and weakly perturbed by noise. This phenomenon is associated to a breakdown in uniqueness of solutions for fixed initial data and underlies many fundamental effects of turbulence (unpredictability, anomalous dissipation, enhanced mixing). Based upon analogy with statistical-mechanical critical points at zero temperature, we elaborate a renormalization group (RG) theory that determines the universal statistics obtained for sufficiently long times after the precise initial data are ``forgotten''. We apply our RG method to solve exactly the ``minimal model'' of spontaneous stochasticity given by a 1D singular ODE. Generalizing prior results for the infinite-Reynolds limit of our model, we obtain the RG fixed points that characterize the spontaneous statistics in the near-singular, weak-noise limit, determine the exact domain of attraction of each fixed point, and derive the universal approach to the fixed points as a singular large-deviations scaling, distinct from that obtained by the standard saddle-point approximation to stochastic path-integrals in the zero-noise limit. We present also numerical simulation results that verify our analytical predictions, propose possible experimental realizations of the ``minimal model'', and discuss more generally current empirical evidence for ubiquitous spontaneous stochasticity in Nature. Our RG method can be applied to more complex, realistic systems and some future applications are briefly outlined.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2020

3D Turbulent Reconnection: Theory, Tests and Astrophysical Implications

Magnetic reconnection, topological change in magnetic fields, is a fundamental process in magnetized plasmas. It is associated with energy release in regions of magnetic field annihilation, but this is only one facet of this process. Astrophysical flows normally have very large Reynolds numbers and are expected to be turbulent, in agreement with observations. In strong turbulence magnetic lines constantly reconnect everywhere at all scales, making magnetic reconnection an intrinsic part of turbulent cascade. We note that this is inconsistent with the usual practice of regarding magnetic lines as persistent dynamical elements. A number of theoretical, numerical, and observational studies, starting with Lazarian & Vishniac (1999), demonstrated that 3D turbulence makes magnetic reconnection fast and that these two processes are intrinsically connected. We discuss the dramatic violation of the textbook concept of magnetic flux-freezing in the presence of turbulence and demonstrate that in the presence of turbulence the plasma effects are subdominant to turbulence as far as the magnetic reconnection is concerned. This justifies an MHD-like treatment of magnetic reconnection at scales much larger than the relevant plasma scales. We discuss numerical and observational evidences supporting the turbulent reconnection model. In particular, we show that tearing reconnection is suppressed in 3D and, unlike the 2D case, the 3D reconnection induces turbulence that makes reconnection independent of resistivity. We show that turbulent reconnection dramatically affects the key astrophysical processes, e.g., star formation, turbulent dynamo, acceleration of cosmic rays. We provide criticism of the concept of "reconnection-mediated turbulence" and explain why turbulent reconnection is very different from enhanced turbulent resistivity and hyper-resistivity, and why the latter has fatal conceptual flaws.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2019

Stochastic Lagrangian Dynamics of Vorticity. I. General Theory

Prior mathematical work of Constantin and Iyer (2008, 2011) has shown that incompressible Navier-Stokes solutions possess infinitely-many stochastic Lagrangian conservation laws for vorticity, backward in time, which generalize the invariants of Cauchy (1815) for smooth Euler solutions. We simplify this theory for the case of wall-bounded flows by appealing to the Kuz'min (1983)-Oseledets (1989) representation of Navier-Stokes dynamics, in terms of the vortex-momentum density associated to a continuous distribution of infinitesimal vortex rings. The Constantin-Iyer theory provides an exact representation for vorticity at any interior point as an average over stochastic vorticity contributions transported from the wall. We discuss relations of this Lagrangian formulation with the Eulerian theory of Lighthill (1963)-Morton (1984) for vorticity generation at solid walls, and also with a statistical result of Taylor (1932)-Huggins (1994), which connects dissipative drag with organized cross-stream motion of vorticity and which is closely analogous to the "Josephson-Anderson relation" for quantum superfluids. We elaborate a Monte Carlo numerical Lagrangian scheme to calculate the stochastic Cauchy invariants and their statistics, given the Eulerian space-time velocity field. The method is validated using an online database of a turbulent channel-flow simulation (Graham et al. 2016), where conservation of the mean Cauchy invariant is verified for two selected buffer-layer events corresponding to an "ejection" and a "sweep". The variances of the stochastic Cauchy invariants grow exponentially backward in time, however, confirming earlier observations of Lagrangian chaos in channel-flow turbulence.

physics.flu-dyn↗